InuYasha
by Kihmiitehra
Summary: My own version of Inuyasha! Please R&R! ::happy smiley:: Don worreh, I vera good writer, I make IY look good, yes? ::happy smiley:: Full summary inside! ::blows kisses:: Love y'all!
1. Chapter 1

This is my own version of Inuyasha! I plan on becoming a professional writer someday, so you know it's gonna be good! smiley face, since FFN can't do real smilies I just have to tell you . . . some of the names and personalities and things have been changed, so don't get mad if it's inaccurate. Which is silly, because it's MY OWN version of InuYasha, so back off, k? smiley

Enjoy!

InuYasha

By Kihmiitehra no Vehra Valentine

Chapter 1

A girl with long, shiny black hair walked down the sun-dappled road.

She sighed as she walked, unruly hair flowing. It was mid-back in length, and she had just turned 15 years old 2 months ago.

Her life was so BORING. She didn't like to think about this, but it was. It was as dull as the color of the concrete beneath her feet.

As the high clouds rolled by in the unfelt wind, she thought about her life. Might as well get it over with :b She had a comfortable one, she knew that. A second pair of feet came into her view of the ground. She looked up. It was Hojo. She blushed.

"Uhh . . . H-Hey, Hojo-san! How's it going? . . ." She swallowed.

"Hey NoIkunan-san! Do you need a walk home?" He fidgeted with his brown hair. His crinkly brown eyes sparkled.

Kagome swallowed again. "S . . . Sure, Hojo-san! Arigatou!" She walked by the side of his bicycle.

Hojo was so cute! He was the cutest boy in school, not to mention he was paying attention to HER. What drew him to her? Did he think she was attractive? She thought she was pretty ordinary-looking, to be honest. She had pretty, complex brown-gray-green eyes, though. Maybe he liked them. They reached her house, with the shrine to the Cat God Nekorai in the back woods. He waved, brown eyes crinkling as he smiled, and pedaled off.

She knew she probably didn't stand a chance of impressing him. Her grades were average, she had only poetry as a hobby, and she didn't think she was very good at that. Writing poetry . . . It made her feel free. It was an escape from all those essays she had to write for school. Bleeehhghh. She walked into the front door.

"HEY!! Shimbo!! Get away from the cat with that steak knife!!" Kagome shouted when she opened the kitchen door.

"I was just kidding!! I swear!!" her little brother said, hiding the knife behind his back.

The fat orange and white cat stretched boredly and walked off, padding up the wooden stairs to Kagome's room.

"Mom told you to stop threatening the cat!! Mom! Shimbo's trying to use a steak knife on the cat again!"

"What??!! You come here right now, Shimbo!!" came a voice from the living room. Shimbo walked sheepishly into the living room, knife in hand.

"I was just kidding! I'd never **actually** hurt Mr. Fuzzy! . . ." Kagome climbed the stairs to her room to drown out their angry voices.

"God . . . My family should be enough excitement for me," sighed Kagome, flopping onto her bed. There was a TV in her room, but she hadn't turned it on in months. No, wait years. She'd just gotten bored with it. It was just sitting and watching. Not doing **anything.** The carpet was pink, she'd picked out the color when she was 4. The wall paper was normal white. She had a desk, and an oversized alarm clock she'd gotten for her seventh birthday.

She got up. She looked out the window, out to the Nekorai shrine that was tucked away, just out of eye range in the woods.

Nekorai. The name had always seemed like a bell in her head whenever she heard it. Nekorai. She decided to go out to the shrine. To say hi to Grandpa, too.

"Hello, Kagome-chan! What brings you out here tonight?" asked her Grandpa, turning around. He was seated with his calves underneath him, facing the well.

The well.

It was closed up now, but she remembered when it was open; she was very young and a shadow had grabbed her, coming up from the depths of the blackness, trying to pull her in . . . She dismissed the memory. Magical wards had been placed on the well since then, to block anything else from coming out of it. The black shape with orange eyes, strangling her, trying to pull her in, pull her close to its putrid-smelling mouth . . . She shuddered.

"Is something wrong, Kagome-chan?" asked Grandpa.

"N-- . . . No, I was just . . . remembering," said Kagome. She sat next to her Grandpa. "Will you tell me about Nekorai, Grandpa? I just realized I don't know anything about this shrine, or who she was."

"Nekorai is said to be the Ultimate Goddess," said her Grandpa, looking at the ceiling, smiling. "She is the Mother of Everything. She created all of the 13 elements. Do you remember what they were, Kagome-chan?" he smiled at her.

"Yeah. Earth, Fire, Water, Wind, Wood, Metal, Lightning, Crystal, Spirit, Light, Shadow, Time, and Music. In that order, I think." Kagome had studied the shrine to Nekorai when she was younger, she'd just forgotten everything Grandpa had taught her. Mostly ::internal smiley face::

"Very good! Not the right order, but very nice!" Grandpa smiled. "Do you remember WHY she created that number of elements? Because she could have just stopped at the first four, the Basic Elements."

Kagome thought hard, but came up with nothing. "No," she said.

"So the Universes could be complex and intricate."

"Oh! Right."

They sat for a moment in silence. A sound like breathing drew Kagome's eyes to the sealed-up well in front of her. A tendril of blackness seeped from under the seal and beckoned her like a finger. "Grandpa . . ." she said, voice full of nervousness. She began to sweat and shake slightly.

"Hm? What is it, Kagome? You're shaking . . ." He followed her gaze. He gasped as more shadow tendrils seeped out from the well, waving and writhing in the air.

Suddenly the wooden seal exploded off the covering of the well, hitting Grandpa in the chest. "Grandpa!!!" Kagome shouted. But she didn't have time to go to him. Tendrils of shadow grabbed her around the waist, legs, and head, and pulled her into the well.

She screamed, long and loud. Pale blue light surrounded her and the shadow monster and it felt like flowing. Like . . . Time. The 12th element, she remembered now. Like flowing back through Time . . . Where was she going? Where was this shadow monster taking her? Or when was it taking her? She felt a presence. Something other than the shadow. Like . . . smiling. _Nekorai._ The word popped into her head for no reason. Nekorai . . .

There was an orange light where they were flowing to. It got bigger and bigger until . . .

_Whoooosshh._ They were in a clearing in the woods, a dilapidated old wooden well next to them. The sunset was orange behind the trees. She heard voices coming from somewhere outside her range of vision.

"A youkai just dragged a girl out of that well! Let's destroy it before it kills her!" She heard feet running through grass.

The shadow demon looked afraid. "Where is it?! I must have it!!" it said in its high, gravelly voice, turning her body over franticly. "There!" It bit down on her waist, on the left side. She screamed. Something felt like it was leaving her body, besides the blood. Like . . . a piece of her spirit. She felt limp and woozy. Kagome wondered if she was going to die.

"Die, demon!" shouted a man's voice. She heard the demon screaming, then chuckling. Her vision was getting blurry. She felt like passing out. But she didn't for some reason, she wondered why.

"I possess the Shikon no Tama in my body now," the shadow chuckled. "You'll have a tough time slaying me now!"

"What?! . . . That girl was . . . she had the!" stammered a second voice. Kagome was dropped on the ground. She was losing blood. "Quick!! Kill it before it becomes too powerful!!" Kagome passed out.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

_Young girl? Young girl, can you hear me?_

Kagome slowly came out of the blackness behind her eyelids. She sat up. Two men dressed in tattered armor and an old woman in priestess garb surrounded her. They gasped. "Her eyes! They're just like your sister's, Lady Kaede!"

"Indeed," said Lady Kaede, a drop of sweat running down her face. "Kikyo! . . ."

Kagome noticed she was bandaged up. Blood stained the bandages where she'd been ripped open. "What happened? Who are you people? . . ." she asked. She put a hand to her head. Kagome felt woozy, probably from the blood loss, and everything that'd happened.

"This fell out of your body," said Kaede to Kagome, holding up a purply-pink jewel shaped like a sphere. It was covered with a dark red liquid, probably the shadow demon's blood. She guessed, since she was alive, they'd killed it.

"What is that?" she asked. She took it from Kaede's hand, turning the slimy thing in her fingers. "It's pretty. Wait this fell out of **me!**"

"Yes. That is the Shikon no Tama, the Jewel of Four Souls. Or in the ancient tongue, the Orb of Despair. That tongue is no longer used, however . . ." Kaede looked at the girl closely. Her eyes were **exactly** like her late sister's; every fleck of color exactly in place. I could be . . . was it possible? Had her sister finally reincarnated? Into a human form . . . or seemingly human. It was probably just appearances, like Kikyo's had been.

"Where am I?" asked Kagome, looking around.

"You are in Kanta village. We believe you be my sister's reincarnation, the proof being the jewel you hold," said Kaede. The woman had faded brown hair, and eyes that were gray and sharp like a steel blade. Her face hung loosely with her age. She was short and strong, and her hair was long and strait, like Kikyo's had been.

"I've never heard of Kanta village," said Kagome.

"You are in the year 2,344 G.A." Perhaps she needed chronological orientation.

"2,344! . . . Wait . . . What's GA?" asked Kagome. What the hell was going on? 2,344!

"G. A., the Common Era. It marks the time since God came into existence, marring the spiritual world forever. When he is gone, a new age will begin. That is how it is written."

"Wait . . . am I in the past or the future?" she wondered out loud. She was in a bare wooden house. Wasn't the future supposed to be all metal and sterile? And have flying cars? Or something :internal tongue-sticking-out "whatever" face: She'd said something about being the reincarnation of someone . . . God she was woozy.

"What is the year where you come from?" asked Kaede. Kaede wondered if something might be wrong with her.

"2,007 B.C.," said Kagome. She set the Jewel down. "What's going on?" She was feeling a bit better now, and it was time to get some answers, especially about these weird questions.

"I . . . am unfamiliar with that Era marker," said Kaede. She stroked her chin, thoughtfully. "You were attacked by a demon. It desired the Jewel that was hidden inside your body, the Jewel my sister Kikyo was cremated with. The fact that you had the Jewel in your body means you are quite possibly my sister's reincarnation," she said.

"Kikyo . . . that name sounds familiar . . ." Maybe it was the name of some pop star she'd heard? Wait, what was she doing, thinking about pop stars::internal tongue-sticking-out "whatever" face: Where the hell was she, and how was she going to get home? She asked the two questions.

"You are in Kanta village, in the nation of Japan. I don't have a map with me, so I can't be that specific. I do not know how you are going to get home; I do not know where you came from."

But, she'd came out of the well, right? The well in Grandpa's shrine that wasn't there anymore! "I came out of the well," she said. "How can I get back through there? Just jump in?" It didn't seem that simple.

"The well?" said Kaede. "Did either of you see this?" she asked the two men.

"No, Lady!" they said. "We only got there after the demon had appeared!"

"Hmmm," said Kaede, stroking her chin.

"The demon escaped, actually," said the shorter of the two men. "After we got the Shikon no Tama out of it, it ran away into the forest. We were too wrapped up with getting the girl here to send anyone after it."

"Damn," cursed Kaede. "That means other demons will now know the Shikon no Tama is back. They will be coming for it. We have to hide it and the girl!"

"I'm Kagome," said Kagome, slightly irritated that no one had asked her her name.

"Kagome, do you think you can walk? The healing spell I used on you should have worked by now," said Kaede, kneeling by her side. She knelt easily for an old woman, Kagome noticed.

"Y . . . Yeah . . . I think I can," said Kagome, noticing that she felt a lot better. She stood up.

"We need to protect the Jewel," said Kaede. "Go to Inuyasha's Forest. Take this with you," She handed her a purple rosary necklace with bear claws in it. "Find Inuyasha and put it around his neck. Then say a binding word. That will activate the spell I put on it."

"What's the spell?" asked Kagome. This got weirder and weirder all the time. :internal frustrated face:

"It's a binding spell, one that will bind him to you," said Kaede. "Hurry, child, there is no time!"

"I'll go with you," said the taller of the two men in the room. "For protection. Until Inuyasha is on our side."

"Ok, thank you," said Kagome. He could show her the way, too.

The two walked out the door, and Kaede watched them leave. I hope Inuyasha will be easy to tame, she thought. He might refuse to help us if Kikyo's reincarnation is involved.

The wind blew, ruffling the long grass by the roads as Kagome and the taller man walked to the Forest of Inuyasha.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The forest was very quiet.

No birds chirped in the trees, as if they were all holding their breaths.

"So, how far is Inuyasha?" asked Kagome, to quell the silence.

"He is not very far," said the tall man. "My name is Kanta, by the way. I was named after the village." He puffed out his chest when he spoke, proud of his name.

The night made the shadows swell and undulate, as if alive, or like there were shadow monsters behind every tree.

G.A. 2344 . . . Why didn't they go by the regular years? Something must have changed along the way. She was certain she wasn't in the future, this forest felt too big and too real for that. Too real . . . Why was she thinking this way? Maybe because the forest around her house didn't feel so . . . big. Threatening. Mysterious. Full of dark and terrible secrets. Hey, that could be a poem::internal smile: Gaahh. Focus. You're in a scary forest in god knows where with a strange man. Wait, what was she thinking about? Her head must not be on strait yet. Looking at the bandages on her hip, she must have lost a lot of blood.

"We're almost to him," said Kanta. The bright moonlight slanted through the canopy.

"What does he look like? Will he be unfriendly?" asked Kagome. She pressed a hand to her forehead to clear it.

"I don't know what he looks like, and I expect he'll be unfriendly," said Kanta. "Here he is. Inuyasha." Kagome looked up.

A boy with long silver hair hung pinned to a tree by an arrow in his chest. He had very handsome features, and cat-like ears. His eyes were closed in an eternal slumber. He wore a red haori, a loose-fitting outfit that was like a kimono only with pants.

Kagome stared. "How do we wake him up?" She started walking to him, climbing up the enormous tree's roots to the boy.

"I'm not sure," said Kanta. "I know Kaede said **something . . .**"

Kagome was close enough to Inuyasha that she could feel his warm, gentle breath on her face. She reached up and grasped his ears. She played with them, loving their softness, giggling.

She felt a pulse. Not in the ears, but it was more like a magickal pulse, like from a spell. It was coming from Inuyasha.

He opened his eyes. Golden irises, he had. And slitted cat pupils. For some reason she thought such pupils would be normal for demons.

He snarled. "Kikyo," he spat, voice full of hatred. "I'd know your scent anywhere. . . Wait . . . No you're not Kikyo! Who are you! How did you wake me!" He noticed she was toying with his ears. "What are you doing! Don't touch me!"

"Heh heh . . . sorry," she said, withdrawing her hands reluctantly. Then she remembered the rosary and slipped it over his head.

"What the hell are you doing! What is th . . . a rosary? Why are you putting this on me!"

"Kanta, why do I have to put this rosary necklace around his head again?" asked Kagome.

"So you can bind him to you, and aid in protecting the Jewel of Four Souls," he said.

"The Jewel of Four Souls . . . ! You have it! Where is it?" His tone was excited, in a way. A dark way.

"I have it," said Kagome. "Why do you need it? It's not here," she said uneasily, watching his golden eyes scan her body for anyplace she might have hidden it.

"You will remove this arrow and give the Jewel to me," he growled, voice threatening.

"Is this what binds you to the tree?" said Kagome, putting her hand on the shaft of the arrow. She pulled. With a grinding sound, like metal against bone she yanked it free. Inuyasha dropped to his feet. He sprang away, off through the brush towards Kanta village.

"Quick, call out a binding word!" shouted Kanta. "Quick!"

"Uh, uh," Kagome tried to think. She thought of his soft ears, how they were like a puppy she'd once held from a box in the street, where some people were giving them away for free. "SIT!"

A purple light, like a lighter version of the color of the rosary beads shined from Inuyasha's necklace. Suddenly, he was pinned to the ground, glowing in this light, as if the gravity where he was was suddenly kicked up about 100 notches. He struggled to move, to get up, but he stayed pinned to the ground by the rosary's spell. Kagome could hear him cursing lividly.

"Goddamn you, Kikyo or whoever the fuck you are! I'm going to kill you!" he shouted. After a moment, with great effort and difficulty, he began to lift himself up.

Kanta walked over to the struggling demon-boy. "You are now bound to Kagome. She can subdue you with that word any time she wants. If you ever want to see that rosary off of you, I suggest you help us protect the Jewel."

"Fuck off!" spat Inuyasha.

"Sit!" shouted Kagome. Inuyasha fell back to the ground with a cry.

" . . . . . . . . . . . What do I have to do?" asked Inuyasha. His voice seethed with displeasure.

"Make sure no demons get their hands on the Jewel," said Kanta.

"How do you know I wont run off with it in the night?" smirked Inuyasha. He began to get up again. Kagome let him, walking over to where the two were standing.

"I think we can arrange for someone to guard you at night," said Kanta. He offered a hand to help up the demon-boy, but he just scoffed at it. Inuyasha finally managed to stand up again. He folded his arms inside his large sleeves and hmphed.

"Fine," he said. "I'll protect the Jewel. But not because I want to, or have any past ties with Kikyo," he looked briefly at Kagome. She didn't notice.

"Thank you, Inuyasha," smiled Kanta. "You will be rewarded once the Jewel is destroyed."

Kagome saw him flinch slightly at the word "destroyed."

"Let's go back to Kaede-sama to tell her our mission was successful!" said Kanta, beginning to walk back the way they'd come. Kagome stared at Inuyasha as they walked; she walked behind the other two. His silver hair was so pretty. If she were crazier, she might reach out and run her fingers through it. Inuyasha noticed her gaze, and looked at her.

"What are you looking at?" he said.

"Heh heh. Nothing," smiled Kagome.


	4. Chapter 4

The "internal faces" are actually smilies in the original version that cannot be shown on FF.N, as they make use of parenthesis, asterisks, little upward arrows I don't know the name of, and other smiley essentials. For some reason FF.N is a butt and wont show these characters. Just so ya know.

Chapter 4

"You have been awakened because your demon strength is needed to protect the Jewel," said Kaede.

"Hmph. Why did it have to be me?" snarled Inuyasha.

"You were convenient," said Kaede. "You are a friendlier half-demon who happens to be in the area, and you have past loyalties to Kikyo, if that matters now."

Inuyasha growled. It was a bestial, somewhat wolf-like sound, that made Kagome slightly wary of him. His entire voice had a tone of that. She knew it would grow on her.

"How are you going to guard me?" he asked. His eyes were hard. Inuyasha did NOT want to be caught up in ANYTHING to do with Kikyo ever again. If he could figure out a way to get this damn rosary necklace off . . . It was bound to him with a spell. If he tried to remove it, it would grow heavy like when he was subdued, and no amount of strength would lift it off.

"Niirou will guard you, and wake Kagome to subdue you should you try to escape," said Kaede. "Please consider joining us willingly in protecting it, Inuyasha."

"Huh," he huffed.

"Well, for now it's alright," said Kagome. "He's on our side and that's that, willingly or unwillingly."

"How come she has Kikyo's eyes?" asked Inuyasha. He glared at Kagome with hate in his gaze.

"We believe her to be my sister's reincarnation. The reason we think it is because the Jewel was found inside her body."

"Huh," said Inuyasha, huffing. His golden eyes looked contemplative. Like he was scheming. "When are you going to destroy the Jewel? Sometime soon?"

"As soon as we figure out how," said Kaede. She looked away, frowning. "We thought the Jewel was destroyed in Kikyo's cremation, but it appears to be tougher than we expected. It might take a true Cleansing of the Orb to destroy it, and that I do not know how to do."

"What do you mean by a Cleansing?" Kagome asked. This was fascinating stuff. She wanted to find out more before she tried to go home. It had been Friday when she'd been pulled in, she had a couple days.

"The Orb is evil," said Kaede. "Pulsing with negative, demonic energy. To Cleanse it would be to wipe out that negative energy, destroying it."

Kagome was confused. How could an object be evil? It didn't make sense. Wasn't something evil supposed to be alive? Unless the orb **was** alive. :internal trying-to-understand frustrated face: She voiced her questions.

"The orb has it's own lifeforce in a way," said Kaede. "It doesn't need to be alive to be evil, however. Crystals are like that, and this Jewel is a kind of crystal. Do you understand?"

"Yeah!" grinned Kagome. This was awesome::internal, very excited face: In spite of her disdain for school, Kagome loved to learn, especially when the subject was as interesting as this.

"We need to go to the Forest Sage for help. She is deep in Inuyasha's Forest. I cannot go with you, I am too old to make the journey." Kaede sighed. Kanta came forward.

"I will make the journey with them," he said.

"I will, too," said Niirou, who had blonde hair. Kanta had dark brown hair. They were brothers.

"Good," said Kaede. "You leave tomorrow."

………………

The four people walked through the dark forest, Kanta leading, as he knew the way, and Kagome and Inuyasha, and finally Niirou, taking up the rear. Inuyasha kept glancing surreptitiously at Kagome's pack, the Jewel of Four Souls safely stowed away in a glass box; there was a charm on the box that kept it from being opened only by Kagome, Kanta, and Niirou, and of course the Forest Sage.

Inuyasha seethed. He was so close to the Jewel, so close! That Jewel was his key to ultimate power, and he couldn't get to it. So close. He studied Kagome.

He hadn't known Kikyo as a young girl, so he couldn't tell if they were alike in that way or not. She'd been 21 when he met her . . . . . . unhappy memories flooded his head and he growled to shoo them away. Kagome looked back at him, green-gray-brown eyes so much like hers. EXACTLY like hers. He glared at her back and she looked away.

Inuyasha seems to **really** want this Jewel, thought Kagome. Maybe it would make him more powerful? Why did she think that? . . . Well, it is a demonic crystal, and in stories crystals can make you more powerful. Novels. Those sci-fi/fantasy books she loved so much. She wondered just how much like those books this time would be. They already had the magic crystal part down. Hee hee hee. This was gonna be cool, she could feel it::internal smile:

Inuyasha was filled with unhappy thoughts of Kikyo. Meanwhile, Niirou was wondering if the demon boy was going to make a break for it anytime soon. He didn't look tense, like he was preparing to, but with demons sometimes you couldn't tell. Spiritual creatures. Like angels, but the polar opposite. Full of tricks and deception. He would watch him carefully.

Kanta, who had dark green-blue eyes, was watching the trees for demons that might attack. The glass box the Jewel was stored in stifled its demonic aura, but not completely. Glass was always good for trapping auras. When the glass was pure, it could trap them completely, but they were quite expensive, and Kaede couldn't get her hands on anything like that.

Kagome looked around the forest. It was dark. Even the scant sunlight filtering through the leaves couldn't penetrate the almost unholy blackness that made every recess and empty spot seem to teem with untold terrors. She wished she had someone's arm, like a boyfriend or dad, someone big and strong, to hold onto, so she wouldn't be so afraid.

She looked back toward Inuyasha, who was watching the trees, too. He seemed at ease, he was probably at home here. She asked Kanta, since Inuyasha himself might not know, "Kanta, how long has Inuyasha been nailed to that tree?"

"About 50 years, I think," he said. A crow flapped across their line of vision and Kanta and Niirou drew their swords.

"50 YEARS!" shouted Inuyasha. 50 years? So that old crone must have been . . . Kaede, Kikyo's sister . . . He knew by her sharp gray eyes. Where was Kikyo? Was she an old woman, too? "What happened to Kikyo! Where was she!" Maybe she'd _died . . . _but . . . wait . . .

"As far as I know, she died of the wound you gave her fifty years ago."

"The wound **I **gave her! I don't remember laying a finger on her! . . . She died?" His voice was suddenly softer, with emotion.

"Yes." The crow flew away, just an ordinary crow, not a demon crow like Kanta and Niirou had suspected. They sheathed their swords. Niirou's blue-green eyes roved the trees for any more possible dangers. Satisfied that they were alone, they continued walking.

Inuyasha folded his arms inside his sleeves. He stared at the ground, as if contemplating.

Kagome stared at him, and wondered if he had had more of a relationship with Kikyo than he was letting on. She thought, in a moment's fancy, he might try something on her, since she was her reincarnation, but shook the thought away. Why the hell was she thinking like that::internal, ashamed angry face: I thought you liked Hojo, and now you're after some dangerous demon boy you don't even know! What's gotten into you, Kagi-chan::disappointed face:

Kagi-chan was her nickname for herself that she only used inside her head. The rest of the day went on without trouble, and they found a clearing to camp for the night.

Crickets chirped in the brush around them, and an owl hooted, soft and haunting somewhere in the distance. It was answered by another, perhaps a mate, or maybe a warning to stay out of its hunting territory.

The stew was great. Kagome had never eaten such delicious food in her whole life, and said so.

"Thank you! I didn't know I was such a great cook," said Niirou, blushing at the complement.

She wondered if all the food in this time was this good. She didn't think Niirou had done anything special with the food; just chopped it, stirred it, heated it, and served it.

Inuyasha slurped up his food and laid down in the grass to sleep. Kaede hadn't had an extra sleeping sack for him, but he didn't care, he was used to sleeping with nothing but the clothes on his back in the wilderness. Kagome wished he at least would've accepted a blanket, but he'd refused.

Well no use wasting her pity on him. If that was the way he liked it, then that was fine with her. She unrolled her own sleeping sack and laid down to sleep. Kanta took the first watch on Inuyasha. Niirou went to sleep, to awaken for his shift in 3 hours. The fire crackled and popped, shooing away the darkness that threatened to consume their campsite.

Inuyasha didn't even have a pillow. He just used his arm. His ear twitched when a moth landed on it.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome asked timidly.

His ear swiveled in her direction, behind him. "What." he said.

"Were you in love with Kikyo?" Might as well be blunt. He exploded.

"WHAT!" he turned to face her, eyes blazing with fury. She shied away.

"I was just curious . . ." she said. She remembered the subduing spell to use in case he attacked her.

"I was NOT in love with Kikyo!" Inuyasha roared. "And I want to never hear you mention that name again!" He turned away from her again. His twin silver tails lashed angrily in the red firelight.

Kikyo . . . Inuyasha growled internally. She was dead, and there was nothing he could do. Well, she'd tried to kill him, anyway. For taking the Jewel of Four Souls, which was going to be Cleansed by turning him into a human. Or something close to it. Kikyo's race. The Iitairiis, or something like that. Kikyo . . . I . . .

Kanta could see some of the stars through the canopy. Niirou was dreaming about the cakes his mother used to make, before a demon came to the village and killed her.

Niirou had a rather cat-like face, as his mother used to point out, while Kanta had more of a wolf-like face. The two species were actually closer related than Kagome's future would have you believe.

Kagome fell asleep, wishing she hadn't angered Inuyasha.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

They reached the house of the Forest Sage.

"Whoooooaaa," said Kagome in awe. It was a HUGE house. It was made of wood, and very old-looking, maybe even ancient, like it had stood there for centuries. It wasn't spread out in hallways and rooms on the ground, like a traditional Japanese house, at least, traditional for ancient Japan like she suspected this now was. It was more European built.

It was painted dark brown and green, to blend in with the forest surrounding it. Perhaps it meant she didn't want to be disturbed. Kagome strode up to the door and knocked.

"Miss Forest Sage! Are you here?" An old woman with sharp violet eyes answered the door.

"What do you want?" she asked grumpily. Smells of fried fish floated through the door opening. She must be cooking lunch.

"Kaede from Kanta village sent us to find you," said Kanta, walking up.

"We need to know how to destroy the Jewel of Four Souls." Kagome took the glass box from her pack and showed it to the old woman. She gasped.

"The Jewel of Four Souls!" she looked around the forest warily before beckoning the four of them inside. She stopped at Inuyasha. "You are a demon! What do you want here?"

"It's ok, he's on our side!" said Kanta. "He's bound to protect the Jewel by the rosary around his neck."

"Ahhh," said the Forest Sage. "Well, come in then."

Inuyasha hmphed and walked past her. The old woman watched him.

The first floor of the mansion was covered with snakes. Kagome was no huge fan of snakes, and cringed at the sight of so many in one place. They writhed on the floors and in the furniture, all colors of the rainbow, and some colors she didn't recognized. She asked about them. "I'm trying to breed out of them a cure for niikolair, a disease that can supposedly be cured by Raiko snake venom and blood. I'm breeding them to make the healing agent more potent."

"Aren't you in danger?" asked Niirou. He was afraid of snakes, and was shaking. Kanta placed a hand on his brother's shoulder to calm him.

"I made myself immune to snake venom a hundred and nine years ago!" laughed the Forest Sage. "My name is KihmuuNaught, by the way. Don't shorten it. I hate that." Kagome laughed.

"I like shortening my name," she said. "I think it sounds cute." She was smiling.

"To the matter at hand . . ." said the Forest Sage, "May I see the Shikon Jewel again?" Kagome handed her the glass box. The purply-pink Jewel glinted in the light, and looked a lot like the Sage's violet eyes. "Yes . . . I'm surprised it couldn't be destroyed in the Holy Fire of Kikyo's cremation . . . What the hell was that?" A loud crunching noise came from above their heads. Kanta and Niirou drew their swords. Inuyasha bared his claws in preparation for battle.

"It may be demons after the Shikon Jewel," said KihmuuNaught. You go outside. I'll get my staff." The four of them went outside.

"It's the shadow-monster that brought me here!" shouted Kagome. The amorphous tendriled thing looked up from breaking through the roof of KihmuuNaught's house. It growled and returned to its work.

"We have to get up to the roof! There's a staircase on the side of the house!" The four raced up the wooden stairs. "Careful, there's moss on this roof. You might slip if you run," warned Niirou.

"Keh. No problem for me," humphed Inuyasha, bounding lightly across the expansive roof, and slashed the shadow demon with his claws. Arcs of red light followed the trails of his claws, and Kagome knew he must be using some sort of wordless spell. She, Kanta and Niirou soon caught up to him.

"Iron Reaver Soul Stealer!" shouted Inuyasha as he slashed at the beast. It screamed, and a dark foaming liquid ran from its wounds. It was one of the two spells Inuyasha knew, and both used his claws as a medium.

"Hiyaaah!" shouted Kanta as he raked the shadow beast with his sword, and Niirou was doing the same. The beast shrieked and fell off the roof. They followed it.

"Blasted humans!" it seethed, foaming purple at the mouth, "I WILL have the Sacred Jewel! You cannot stop me forever!" KihmuuNaught came out and blasted the demon with a spell from her staff. It screamed as the holy energy seared its body. It looked around desperately. That girl . . . ! She hadn't attacked him at all, yet. But she looked to be just watching . . . It got an idea. It fired its dark tendrils at the girl, wrapping around her body, holding her captive.

"Give me the Jewel or I rip this girl in half!" it shouted. The other four fighters froze. A light breeze blew through the battlefield, ruffling Inuyasha's long silver hair. Inuyasha considered . . . if he let it rip her in half, there would be no one left to say the binding word and he would be able to run off with the Jewel. But . . . he growled to himself. The Forest Sage was probably powerful enough to stop him from doing that. She had centuries of experience dealing with demons just like him; he would be a toy in her hands. He decided to keep his promise to protect Kagome . . . for now.

Kanta motioned to KihmuuNaught to get the Jewel. She reluctantly went back inside the house, and set the Jewel in front of the demon.

"Open the box," it demanded. It knew there was sure to be some sort of charm on it that prevented it from being opened by demons. KihmuuNaught opened the box. The purple jewel gleamed in the sunlight. The demon grinned. It reached out a tendril and swallowed the orb. It immediately began to glow violet, the color of the jewel, and grew.

_So it **does** make demons stronger,_ thought Kagome. _Oh God . . . I wonder if he's going to kill me anyway . . . it seems like a demon would do that . . . _ She steeled herself for it, should it come.

The shadow grew as tall as the house, and laughed in its high-pitched voice, four glaring orange eyes blazing. "Thank you," it grinned. "Now to kill your little friend." It began to pull at Kagome. She screamed.

Inuyasha had anticipated this, and leapt up the shadow's body, ripping apart the tendrils and taking Kagome away from him.

"Thank you, Inuyasha," said Kagome as he set her to her feet. But she didn't have time to take a breath before he grabbed her again to avoid a black tendril crashing down where they were just standing.

"You wait here," said Inuyasha, hiding her in the brush. "He has no beef with you now, anyways." Without waiting for a response, he raced back to the battleground where Kanta and Niirou were still fighting.

Kagome watched, wishing desperately that she could fight. KihmuuNaught seared the demon with Holy blasts from her staff. Niirou broke his leg. He didn't scream, though.

The demon, even with his newfound power, was losing badly. It was like it didn't know how to fight, or was used to picking on helpless things. Finally, knowing it was going to be killed, it fled into the forest, leaving a trail of foamy blood.

"We have to follow it," breathed Niirou, hanging off his brother's shoulder.

"You're not going," said Kanta, concern in his dark turquoise eyes. "You need a splint for that leg." The demon had pierced both their armor suits, and blood ran freely down their bodies.

Inuyasha had fewer wounds, and his blood was of a darker color than the two humans'. "Kagome needs to know how to fight. She's a sitting duck." Kagome came over to where the other three were standing.

"I do want to fight," said Kagome determinedly. "I just don't know how I'd help in the short-term; I'd need training, or something . . ."

"I may be able to help you with that," said the Forest Sage. "You're Kikyo's reincarnation, aren't you? I can tell by your crenium eyes.—"

"Crenium?" wondered Kagome. "Is that a color?"

"Yes," said the Forest Sage. "That's the name for the brown-gray-green color your eyes possess. Anyway, Kikyo was an Archery Master, level 3. She was known for never missing her mark. Perhaps you could awaken that ability in yourself."

"Yeah!" shouted Kagome. "That would be awesome!" She'd never been good at archery in gym class, if she remembered correctly. But that didn't matter now . . . She would be of use to her new friends and their mission.

"Come with me," said KihmuuNaught. "We must hurry, before the blood trail seeps into the ground!" They went to the back side of the house, where there was a weapons shed. The Forest Sage took out a quiver full of arrows and a sturdy bow and gave them to Kagome.

"Try shooting that tree right there," said the Forest Sage.

"O-Okay . . ." said Kagome, unsure of how to tap into her power. She pulled the arrow back and fired. It stuck with a thunk in the ground a few feet from her target. She sighed, disappointed.

"Use your soul's energy to guide the arrow," said KihmuuNaught. "Trust your instincts."

"Okay . . ." said Kagome. She tried not to think about shooting too much, as that was the way she heard to allow your instincts to overtake you. Suddenly she felt strange, almost nauseous. A purple light began to emit from her body. As if possessed, she raised the bow and fired, a purple-pink flame around the arrowhead. The arrow struck the tree, cutting it in half, and sending it crashing to the ground. They gaped. Except for the Forest Sage and Inuyasha, who had seen Kikyo's power before.

"By the Gods! . . ." said Kanta.

"**I** did that?" shouted Kagome. " . . . I can't have these weapons, can I?" she looked to the Forest Sage with pleading eyes.

"Of course," smiled the Sage. "I have lots of archery sets. You may keep it as long as you like. You don't need to bring it back."

"Thank you!" cried Kagome, hugging the old woman. She returned it.

"We'd better get going," said Kanta. "The blood is sure to have faded by now."

"Madam Forest Sage, do you think you could heal my leg so I can join them?" asked Niirou. He was sitting against the wall of the house, left leg out in front of him.

"Oh, of course, that's simple," smiled KihmuuNaught. She went over to the 19-year-old and chanted a healing prayer, waving her staff over his leg. With a snapping sound, it popped back into place and healed.

Niirou tested his weight on it. "Domo arigatou, KihmuuNaught-sama! Alright! Let's go!"

The four warriors began down the trail of the shadow demon.

………………

The clumsy shadow monster walked and bled through the forest, sliming its way to the river where the water would wash away his blood, and his scent. It huffed, exhausted. It stopped to rest.

That demon-boy . . . he was part cat demon from the look of his ears, which meant he had a good sense of smell, and would be on his trail. He had to hide, fast. Following the river downstream was his best bet.

But it worried . . . He was badly wounded, and stronger demons would sense the Jewel in his form, and come to take it from him. He could already sense their presences around the peripheries of his awareness now, closing curiously in on him. He had to hide!

He heard the shushing of undergrowth, and whirled around. The three humans and demon had found him! It snarled fearfully.

"Iron Reaver Soul Stealer!" shouted the silver-haired boy, carving a deep gash in his side. The shadow screamed. The two humans charged with their swords, slicing off the tendrils so it couldn't grab them. But more popped out of his bloated flesh.

"You'll have to kill me if you want this Jewel!" he shouted, turning to face them. Kagome drew an arrow.

Somehow, she could tell where the Jewel was. It glowed faintly purple in her senses.

The demon was getting desperate. It stabbed through the air, past Kanta's sword and into his chest. Niirou screamed.

The shadow grinned as it felt Kanta's lifeforce drain into him, making him stronger. Niirou charged the shadow, enraged at his brother's death. The body of Kanta hung limply from the shadow's tendril, and was tossed aside like so much garbage. Inuyasha wished he had some sort of long-range weapon to use against the beast.

Kagome tried to expand her senses to locate the demon's heart, but she couldn't do it. She guessed Kikyo must not have been **that** good of an Archery Master.

Kagome fired an arrow into the demon, purple flames surrounding the tip of it. The Holy Flame burned a hole through the demon's body, but not before it stabbed Niirou. He closed his eyes a final time and slumped in its grasp.

Inuyasha ripped into the monster; it was dying and he could smell it. He had a very sensitive nose, like a dog or wolf. But something was wrong . . . Even though they were killing it, it seemed to be becoming more powerful. It must be drawing strength from the Jewel . . .

Dying, it made one last ditch effort to save itself and Sped away at lightning pace.

"Shit!" spat Inuyasha. "Climb on my back, you can't run fast enough."

"Okay!" said Kagome. They had to kill it, and avenge Kanta and Niirou. Inuyasha probably only cared about the Jewel . . . He was warm. It must be from the heat of battle.

"Fire an arrow!" shouted Inuyasha.

"Got it!" said Kagome, nodding. As they neared the demon, bleeding fountains, she drew an arrow and fired into the demon's heart. Suddenly there was a cracking sound, above the shadow's screams, and purple-pink lightning bolts erupted from the spot where her arrow had hit. What was going on was that Kagome had hit the Shikon Jewel inside the demons body, and the Holy Flame was weakening the demonic powers of it, overpowering it, causing it to . . .

SHATTER.

"What is that light!" shouted Inuyasha, shielding his eyes with an arm. "What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything!" shouted Kagome back.

The Jewel's demonic energy could not stand the energy of the Holy arrow right next to it, invading it, destroying it, so it did the only thing it could.

It exploded.

Tiny purple comets flew from the shadow monster, scattering all across the country, and a few beyond, and Inuyasha gasped in horror, he knew what was going on.

"WHAT DID YOU DO!" shouted Inuyasha.

"Did the Jewel explode?" wondered Kagome aloud. All those lights . . . Their prey looked dead, maybe it had been using the Jewel to sustain its life. She watched it melt, becoming an ordinary shadow instead of a demon.

Inuyasha was practically pulling his hair out. "YOU DESTROYED THE JEWEL OF FOUR SOULS! . . ." He struggled for the angry words that were on the tip of his tongue.

The last of the purple stars faded into the distance.

Kagome looked at a loss. "Well . . ." she said, "We better go back and tell Kaede what happened . . ." They walked back the way they'd come through the dark forest.


	6. Chapter 6

To my reviewer, miss kagome1115, please fix your email so I can respond to your message, I got a failure delivery message the last times I tried. Thankies:)

Chapter 6

The path back to Kaede's house was very quiet. Kagome was walking alone with Inuyasha, the first time she'd ever done so. I made her a little nervous, actually.

Inuyasha probably out-weighed her by at least 30 pounds. She wondered briefly if he would try to attack her, but remembered her subduing spell. She was safe.

Kagome wondered about Inuyasha. She didn't know anything about him, aside from what Kaede had mentioned.

She studied his appearance, for lack of anything better to do. Inuyasha had long, strait silver hair that came to the juncture of his thighs, and the unruly ends made Kagome think he probably had never cut it in his life. His liquid gold eyes scanned the trees for potential threats. He had a handsome face, cute and boyishly good-looking, and his nails were elongated into claws on both his finely crafted hands and feet.

His feet were athletically strong-looking, with thick ankles, but didn't look brutish in any way. Just strong, even graceful. He caught her gaze.

"What are you staring at?" he huffed. His ears rotated as he spoke, listening for any unusual sounds in the shadowy forest.

"Just you," she said, and smiled. "Just admiring your appearance, that's all." He hmphed and went back to watching.

Kagome looked at Inuyasha's twin tails. They were silver, like his hair, but with black undertones. She wished she could pet them. He'd probably just snap at her, though . . . :sigh: She wished she had someone to talk to . . . Inuyasha was a wee bit on the anti-social side. Maybe he had something against **her,** though. She decided to be brave and ask. Just to clear the air, if it would.

"Inuyasha, do you have something against me? . . ." she asked. "I mean, you're always rude to me, and at first I thought it was just your nature, but . . ."

"NO, I do NOT have something against you," snarled the demon-boy.

"Are you sure? . . ." said Kagome. Her crenium eyes caught the light, so familiar, so haunting, 50 years and she still did this to him, even after betraying him . . . He looked away.

"Leave me alone," huffed Inuyasha, and Kagome let it drop, for now.

Inuyasha voiced that he didn't want to camp, so he carried her, with the speed of a demon, to Kanta Village. They told Kaede what happened to the Jewel.

"By the Gods! The Jewel scattered all over the country?" said Kaede. " . . . You'll have to find them, and quickly. Demons will be collecting the shards and laying waste to both human and Iitairii villages." She was interrupted by Kagome.

"What's an Iitairii?" she asked.

Kaede smiled. "The Iitairiis are the race who existed on this planet before humans came. I and Kikyo's family were Iitairiis. Inuyasha, I believe, is half Iitairii."

"That is true," he said. He folded his arms inside his sleeves.

"I'll tell you the whole story tonight, before you leave for your journey," said Kaede. She said, "Kagome, can you sense the sacred Jewel shards out in the world?"

Kagome blinked. She opened her awareness, and found that, indeed, she could. There was one right close by. She told Kaede so.

"Excellent! I thought you might, since the Jewel lived for many years inside your body, you should be in tune with its energies. Now then," she said, "I'll give you some supplies for your journey."

"Wait!" said Kagome. "I have to see if I can get home first!" She had used up her weekend. She wondered if the well would be able to take her back.

"Of course," said Kaede, "I had nearly forgotten you are not from this time. I will lead you to the well."

The well was in the middle of a clearing, the clearing Kagome remembered being ripped open in by the shadow demon. She looked down the dark earthy depths and gulped slightly. "Here goes nothin'" she said, and jumped down into the darkness.

At first nothing happened, she reached the bottom without problem. Then, without warning, the well erupted in soft blue light, and the feeling of being on a river, flowing between times, came to her. When it stopped, she climbed to the top of the well, but found it was blocked, by the wooden top that usually covered the well at home. She smiled, grateful that she had found her way home again.

But she was trapped. The good feelings faded, and claustrophobia set in. Eyes wide in the dark, she called for her grandpa. She screamed his name. No answer.

Before she started to panic, she realized she could go back. A sudden wave of apathy toward school came across her, and she thought she would try again later. The shrine was a good ways away from the house, anyway, there was no chance anyone would hear her from there.

She closed her eyes, imagining the past world. The soft blue light and engulfing river came again, and she jumped out of the well in the forest clearing.

Inuyasha was sitting up against it. He gazed at her. "That was quick," he said. "You forget something?"

"The well is blocked on the other side," said Kagome. "I might as well go on this journey and come back later." Something hit her. " . . . Were you waiting for me?" She looked at him curiously.

"I have nothing better to do," he huffed, looking away. "I'm not hungry enough to go out hunting, I'm not in the mood for training, I don't have any family, friends, or weapons to take care of . . . and you've only been gone a few minutes. It has nothing to do with YOU."

"Hm," said Kagome, understanding. "Well, let's get back to the village so we can prepare."

Inuyasha sprang to his feet, not in an excited way though, just as though that's how he usually got up. She smiled at him, and he stared at her apathetically back. They walked back to the village, and to Kaede's house.

………………

"Once nature ruled this world," said Kaede, as they sat around the fire. The wind was blowing at their backs, and Kagome huddled in her fur blanket. Inuyasha had refused a blanket.

"This planet was a paradise. Many races lived here, including the nicro angels, the nymphs, the Dryads, and the Iitairiis. The Iitairiis were as populous in the world as the humans are now."

"They didn't overpopulate the planet?" said Kagome. She'd read a book once that said humans were overpopulating the earth, but it didn't seem right that the Iitairiis should do the same. She wondered if she had traces of Kikyo's memories. It seemed like she had a lot of notions like that lately, ever since she arrived in this world.

"Not at all," said Kaede. "The ancient races knew how to regulate their population. Why do you ask?"

"In 2007, the world is overrun with people. It's like no one cares. People in poor countries are starving. . ." she looked down at the ground. There was that feeling again, that nagging urge to do something, do something about the problems of the world.

This urge was not new. She knew the world, and the planet, was in pain, but she didn't know what she alone could do. She wanted to do SOMETHING . . .

It reminded her. Of when she was 10, and the feeling, almost like the nagging of a demon, had been so strong, she'd gone out into the yard. It was pouring rain, and 5 in the morning, and she'd shouted to the sky, "What? What is it I'm supposed to DO? I'll do it! I'll do it if you just tell me what it is!" She shouted for several minutes, then just stood there, in her sky-blue pajamas in the rain and stared at the sky, letting the drops splatter her with their purity.

She'd wept. In the rain, she wept silently, uncertain of her destiny.

Kaede made a grim noise in her throat and closed her eyes. "I should have guessed that. That's what humans do; they eat a planet from the outside in." She continued, "The Iitairiis laid the base of almost all Natural blood on this earth. Most creatures knew how to shape-shift, and so there was a great diversity of species. . . . Where was I? . . . Oh, forgive me . . . Humans are actually not native to this planet. They come from Agniita1, a planet in another galaxy. They are parasites of the highest level. They move from planet to planet, draining the physical, mental, and spiritual life from them. They arrived here . . . let me think . . . 5,000 years ago."

"Humans are aliens?" gawked Kagome. Inuyasha blinked. He'd never heard this story before.

Kagome wondered. There were so many problems in the world caused by humans . . . Now that she thought about it, she didn't really want to be one. To have all that shame attached to your species . . . Kaede saw the girl's expression and said, "Kikyo and I were full-blooded Iitairiis, Kagome. Since you are her reincarnation, you are one as well."

"Really? Ok! Thanks!" said the black-haired girl, feeling loads better. She wondered if that made her parents, little brother, and grandpa Iitairii, too.

"You're welcome," said Kaede. The rest of the story told about the history of the Iitairiis, and the war about the humans vs. nature. It was very long, but fascinating, and Kagome didn't notice the time until her head started nodding seemingly of its own accord.

Kaede finished. She led the two to her guest rooms, but Inuyasha preferred to sleep outside.

"Wont you get cold?" said Kagome.

"I sleep outside all the time," he huffed. "And I like the wind in my ears." Kagome blinked, and smiled. She fell asleep glad she knew at least one thing about her new companion.

1 ag-nee-AI-ta


	7. Chapter 7

Reviewers: Thank you all for your awesome, encouraging comments! That just really lights up my day when I get a review in the mail. If you would, please be detailed about what you like about my story, and if you don't like it, don't bother :P

Thanks again!

::Kihmiitehra

Chapter 7

The next day was warm and sunny, perfect traveling conditions.

Kagome never felt better in her life. She felt happy and light, and stretched out of her bed mat on the floor, took a bath in the river that ran behind the village, got dressed, and went to go wake Inuyasha. She found him snoozing in a tree behind Kaede's house.

"Inuyasha!" she called. His ears pricked up and he looked down at her, apathetic gold eyes gleaming in the sunlight.

"We're leaving to find the Jewel shards! Are you ready?" she shifted her heavy backpack full of supplies on her shoulders.

"Give me a second to hunt down some breakfast," he said, jumping down from the tree and landing gracefully on his feet.

"No need. There's some oatmeal in the pot. Go have some of that."

"Alright . . ." Inuyasha grumbled. He liked hunting his food better than getting it in the "civilized" way. He felt it suited his personality better. But they were in a hurry, so he obliged for now.

Inuyasha had never eaten oatmeal before. He liked it. It couldn't compare to a freshly-caught rabbit, but he liked it. Finally they were ready.

Kaede waved them goodbye, and Inuyasha and Kagome started onto the path to the first Sacred Jewel shard. Kagome could feel it, off in the distance like a far away dream.

"Aren't we in a hurry?" asked Inuyasha.

"We're walking because you can't carry me on your back with your pack in the way," she said. "And the Sacred Jewel shards could take months to collect; if one more goes to a demon, then so what? You can beat 'im!" She smiled at him.

"Hmm," he said. "I hope you're right." Kagome got the feeling that she had boosted his ego a little.

A bird, possibly a nacterehn, crooned in the trees. Inuyasha knew that even though she could fight now, he would have to protect Kagome. He had been in more fights with other demons than he could remember, and knew that many had the ruthlessness of daggers in their hearts. She was the only one who could sense where the shards were, so he needed to keep her from harm as much as possible.

"Inuyasha?"

"What?" He looked at her.

"Do you think we could be friends someday, instead of just mission companions?"

"Why would you want to be friends with me? I don't even like you."

"I know . . ." said Kagome, looking at the ground. "But **I** want to be friends with you, if we're going to be traveling together for months . . . . and also . . . you seem like kind of a lonely guy sometimes . . ." She knew instantly what his reaction to that would be.

"I am NOT lonely," he spat. "I don't need anyone or anything! Never have, never will."

"Alright," Kagome sighed, and they walked on in silence.

They were walking through a wind-swept field. The sun glinted off the shiny grass as it waved and rippled in the breeze, long and thick and full of dragonflies.

Kagome breathed it in deep. She loved nature, especially having a forest to play in growing up. It made her feel so ALIVE. There was an indescribable feeling when she was out here, in the wild . . . something tugging at her heart. Almost a feeling of duty, if that was right. She looked back at Inuyasha, who was smelling the wind for danger. She smiled.

"Why don't you enjoy the wind instead of just testing it for danger?" said Kagome. "I feel so alive when I'm out here, so truly **alive;** do you ever feel that way?" She wondered if he was too used to his environment to appreciate it fully.

For once he didn't scoff at her. He faced the wind and felt it slide through his thick silver hair, play on his face, caress it like the mother he'd lost when he was a child. Kagome was right. He **did** feel alive.

Inuyasha breathed it in deep. He felt peaceful, almost happy. And the whispers . . . the whispers were back. He had heard them sometimes when he was little, and had disappeared when he became a teenager. Rarely could he understand what they were saying, but when they did become clear, it was usually important. Very important.

He couldn't make them out now. They came on the wind, like silk threads, through his head, whispering, like dandelion seeds. He turned to Kagome, who had an indescribably glad look on her face, the bright light gleaming in her familiar crenium eyes.

"We'd better keep moving," he said, walking past her. She followed, a light feeling in her heart.

………………

They camped in a field that night, and Kagome got to see the stars for the first time since she came here.

"Oh my God!" she breathed. "I can't believe what I've been missing!" Inuyasha looked, too.

The sky was a symphony of brilliant lights, cascading everywhere, shooting stars darting to and fro, the Milky Way a literally flowing river.

"I didn't know the Milky Way flowed like a river!" she exclaimed. Inuyasha hmphed.

"That's the Star River in this region of the universe. I don't know what this 'Milky Way' is. It sounds like a damn candy bar." Kagome laughed her ass off. "Wha'd I say?" he asked. She shook her head, turning back to the stars.

What had happened, that made these indescribable lights dim so in the future? Had something tainted the atmosphere? Were there just less of them? Was it something humans had done? She felt it was. Something told her, that everything bad that happened to nature happened because of the human race. Like, she'd never even **heard** of enormous fields where dragonflies played, those places had been torn down to make way for condominiums, shopping malls, and the like. Not that she didn't enjoy those places, but it didn't seem like **any** were left. Everyone deserved to experience that kind of place at least once in their lives. That peace and wild joy . . . And these stars . . . even Shakespeare himself could not have described them.

Inuyasha looked from the stars to the girl sitting a little ways away from him. He hadn't known Kikyo as a teenager, so he didn't know if her body was the same in that way. He studied her smooth curves, wishing he had known Kikyo longer before she'd died. Gahh, what was he thinking?! He was supposed to hate Kikyo, for betraying him in his hour of need.

Kanta had said she'd died of the wound **he'd** given her. But that was impossible. He never would have _touched_ Kikyo before then. He couldn't. It was against who he was. After, then, ho ho, look out, but . . . he had loved that woman with all his heart and soul.

And now she was dead.

Even if she **had** survived the trials of age, 50 years later, she would be too fragile to make love to. He sighed. She was dead, she was dead. And now that he was thinking strait again, good riddance. He didn't know why he was thinking of her all of a sudden. It was probably because her eyes had come back to haunt him, surrounded by a girl who's smell snickered of her.

Those eyes . . . those crenium eyes that he had loved once, so dearly, for one glorious year. That year had been heaven on Earth, a time when he was loved, like his mother had loved him until she'd died, when he was seven. He would do anything to feel that love again. Anything . . .

His face felt wet. He wiped it with a sleeve. Tears? He quickly wiped them away, before Kagome could notice. She caught his movements and broke her gaze from the night sky, looking at him. He refused to meet her eyes. "What are you thinking about, Inuyasha?" she asked in a languid and relaxed tone, as if it was normal to ask what one was thinking about at a time like this, with a sky like this.

"None of your business," he huffed. One ear twitched when a firefly landed on it.

"Oohh, look, the fireflies are coming out!" said Kagome excitedly. The field was filling with tiny yellow lights, darting and dancing.

"Wha??" said Kagome in awe. The stars were dropping from the sky and becoming yellow and white motes, dancing and darting with the fireflies. It was like the sky was a blanket full of lights that covered the world, and the stars were plucking themselves down off of it.

"The fireflies are mating with the stars," said Inuyasha. "Almost every year, in the season of Celestialla, the stars come down and breed with the fireflies. That's why the fireflies look just like stars."

"Wow!" breathed Kagome. The motes, fireflies and stars together, coupled and danced in the light of the night. Kagome had never seen a more gorgeous sight in her whole life.

"Fireflies are actually a kind of star," said Inuyasha. "They descend from them, anyway."

"Really?! That is . . ." she struggled for the right word. Awesome. Incredible. So cool.

Inuyasha watched the mating ritual, as he hadn't seen it in a long time.

Kagome made it her mission, right then and there, to find out as much about this past world as possible, and find out why it wasn't like this in the future.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Kagome awoke to find Inuyasha snoozing on the ground a ways away from her.

She giggled, seizing another opportunity to play with his soft, cat-like ears. He awoke, growling.

"Stop doing that!" he shouted at her. She laughed.

"But they're so fun to touch!" she smiled. "Please can I feel them just one more time?"

"No! Keep your hands to yourself!" he hmphed, turning away. "Let's get going. Eat your breakfast and I'll go find mine." He walked off into the grove of trees.

Kagome got out a can of spaghetti and meatballs. She didn't feel like making a fire, so she just ate it cold. It was still delicious, though. Everything in this time was. That was one of the things she wanted to find out, why the food in the future tasted like boiled plastic compared to this. After she'd gotten the first Jewel shard she thought she'd try going back to her time again, when they returned to Kanta Village for supplies. She could get her huge backpack, and maybe her bike to carry it on. And Inuyasha could ride on the back! If he wasn't too heavy of course . . .

Kagome finished her can and apple, and Inuyasha came back licking squirrel blood off his claws and face.

"Get a good catch?" she asked. He smiled.

"Yep. Can't beat fresh squirrel." He licked his bloody fingers.

They gathered the garbage and sleeping bag and started off again.

………………

A woman with star-white hair down to her calves was cooking some fried noodles for her family. The hair gleamed in the light, a braid coming down from her mid-back.

Her skin was almost paper-white; that and her hair marking her as an albino, and her sun-orange eyes marked her as having demon blood.

"Sana-gohma, is it done yet?" asked her little brother, Nagoda. He was starving, as were all her siblings. She smiled.

"Just a minute, Nago-chan," she said. She doused the flames underneath the grill. "Okay! Everyone give me your plates and I'll serve ya up!"

The three children and two women came forward eagerly, getting their plates filled with noodles, meat, and some rice from a separate pot. Sana-gohma served herself, and they all dug in.

Sana-gohma's parents were out in the backyard training. They were a family of demon slayers for hire.

Their shame was that her grandmother (on her father's side) had been a Star Demon, and had passed her appearance on to her children, and grandchildren.

It marred their reputation. A family of demon demon slayers? It just wasn't trustworthy. They still lived well, though, in spite of this "handicap."

Sana-gohma loved her appearance. Her shimmering hair and bright eyes brought the attention of many gentlemen callers.

She had refused all of them, though. Her dream was to leave the family and go traveling, and find her mate while adventuring the Japanese countryside. She wanted to find someone who was part demon like her, or at least Iitairii. So they wouldn't be afraid of her or anything.

Sana-gohma had many scars on her body from sword, sickle, knife, and various other blade wounds from training. She'd grown up training to be a demon slayer, and she was one of the best.

When they were done eating and had digested and cleaned the dishes, they all donned their black demon slayer outfits and armor and joined their parents in the yard.

Sana-gohma loved this outfit. It was skin-tight, for greater mobility, and had silver pads with anti-demon magickal tags in them. The armor was blessed by the moon, an advantage because of her Star Demon blood; the affiliation with night gave her a boost in defense. (Especially at night. Unfortunately, many demons got power boosts at night as well. More of an explanation of how the armor works later.)

Her siblings all had different colored armor on top of their basic black clothing. They got their weapons out of the shed and practiced. Sana-gohma got her Hiraikotsu, a giant dark red boomerang soaked with demon's blood out and sparred with Kohaku, her eldest little brother.

He grinned devilishly, readying his silver sickles. He had a scar that ran from his jaw on the right side up to his right nostril. His hair was long strait and black, sticking up on his forehead like long grass. His hair was tied in a ponytail on the nape of his neck, and it came to his shoulder blades. "You ready for another scar, sista?" he asked. She grinned back.

"You're not gonna touch me this time, Kohaku-chan!" Kohaku had an accent, he wasn't just being impudent. He did mean it, though.

"I beg to diffa, sista!" He whirled the chain around his head and threw it, the deadly blade glinting. She stepped to the side and jumped away as he jerked it back her way.

Kohaku was by far her favorite sibling. If she was going to marry someone, she'd want him to be like him. She side-stepped another sickle and threw her Hiraikotsu, which was dodged by the slender boy. It came back again and he jumped 6 feet in the air to avoid it. All of the Nuriko family could do as such.

"Next one's comin' foh yoh head, sista!" he shouted, tossing the blade as hard as he could. It stuck in her boomerang instead of her skull. "Damn! You're fast wit dat thing, sista." Her parents had taught them all to train hard, being brutal if need be. Demons were brutal, and they needed to be prepared for it.

After all, wounds healed, and their demon blood made them immune to most fatal wounds. Take advantage of every opportunity, their mother said once. She was talking about taking advantage of their demon blood.

The mail bell rang and Taro, their father, went to get it.

"We got a call!" he shouted. "The village of Wallikehn needs to get rid of some snake demons! That's only 8 miles from here! Let's go!"

The two sisters, Sana-gohma, and Kohaku got in their wagon. The two smaller boys were too young to fight yet.

As the wagon went out of sight, the two silver-haired boys waved goodbye. When it was sure the wagon was out of hearing range, two snakes came up and bit the boys' ankles. They screamed, and were dead before they hit the ground. The snakes crawled away, quickly, back to Wallikehn Village.

………………

Something was bothering Sana-gohma. She couldn't figure out what it was. Something oppressive on the edge of her senses, something big.

As she rode in the bumpy wagon, hair in a plaited ponytail and Hiraikotsu leaning at her side like an old friend, she thought. Perhaps these feelings were psychic notions, watered down from her demon heritage by Iitairii blood. Star Demons were known for their psychic abilities.

She'd had these notions before. When that tree fell on her sister Dahgih-nora, and she'd had a dream about it the night before, exact down to the expression on her face. And when she'd seen gold sparkles in front of her eyes and a few minutes later Kohaku found a gold ring in the grass.

She was worried. She'd told her parents about the things that had happened, but they didn't know how to awaken her abilities, if that's what they were. She decided to tell her sister about this new feeling.

"Sanah-dohra," she said, "I think something bad's going to happen in the village we're going to."

Her sister was the skeptical one in the family. "You're being silly," she said. "I don't believe those psychic notions you have, you know that."

Slightly discouraged and wondering why she'd turned to her in the first place (probably because she was sitting right next to her), Sana-gohma went to Kohaku to tell him, but they had arrived.

They put on their poison filters, metal porous shields that covered the lower parts of their faces, and got out.

"You're here!" cried a woman villager, running up to them. "Thank the Gods! . . . Wait . . . are these two women demons?"

"They are my daughters," said Taro. "They are of demon blood, and that blood aids their abilities in combat. They are of no threat to you. We are here to help." He sounded tired of explaining this to every job they had. Taro silently cursed his father for being seduced by that Star Demon.

"A-alright," said the woman. "The snakes are in the mayor's basement. That house over there," she pointed to a green, large house covered with ivy.

They said thank you, and went over to it.

In the basement's sudden light, the snake demons writhed away into the shadows, hissing and growling, and Kohaku and the blonde-haired Sanah-dohra went down to fight them.

"Ai kehn take care of this myself," said Kohaku. He drew his sword and began hacking at the snakes, and told Sanah-dohra to stay back so he could prove his worth.

The snakes reared, preparing to strike, and Kohaku arched his sickle-chain around and lopped their heads off. He kept doing this until all the snakes were dead.

"My God, son!" said Taro, impressed. "You killed them all, all by yourself!"

"Yup!" Kohaku grinned. A flash of silver. Like a strand of hair. Had it been just her imagination? If it was her mind, what did it mean?

They headed out to the town square where they had parked the wagon.

"Here's your pay! Thank you so much!" said the mayor. She was smiling gladly.

"You're very wel—hurrk k!" Taro spewed blood from his neck and fell to the ground.

"Daddy!" cried Sanah-dohra. She fell to the ground bleeding fountains, too.

Where was the attack coming from! A sickle stuck in her mother's back. WHAT!

Sana-gohma faced Kohaku. His eyes were glazed, as if he was drugged, and he whipped his sickle towards Dahgih-nora. Sana-gohma wasn't fast enough with her giant boomerang and her sister fell with a cry.

Her mother, father, and two sisters lay dead around her. And Kohaku was their murderer.

Sana-gohma removed her mask so she could speak better, tears flowing down her face. "Kohaku . . . What the fuck are you DOING!"

Kohaku removed his mask and smiled. "Because I have every right." The strand of silver again. It wasn't just her imagination; coming off his neck. On his neck . . . a spider-shaped insect clinging to his skin! He was being controlled by a spider demon.

Enraged, Sana-gohma tossed her boomerang at the boy; he dodged, and the sharp weapon sliced the spider silk in two. The light came back to Kohaku's eyes. He blinked, and looked around.

"OH MY GOD!" he cried when he saw the dead bodies of his family. "What . . . How did . . ." he teared up with wide shocked eyes.

"Kohaku . . ." Sana-gohma was shaking. But the battle wasn't over yet. That spider demon must be hanging around somewhere . . . and she thought she knew where, exactly where.

She raced back to the basement in the mayor's house and looked up. Burrowed into the ceiling was the spider demon.

"Come out and fight, or I'll kill you where you squat!" she shouted. The demon skittered away, into its tunnels, and she went outside.

Outside the police had surrounded Kohaku. "Kill him! His demon blood has awakened and he's going to kill everyone here!" the townspeople shouted. Kohaku looked scared, not knowing what to do.

"No! Don't kill him! He's innocent—" But they filled him with arrows before she could save him. She screamed.

"Kill her, too! She's got demon blood!" they shouted and rushed at her, and she ran behind the house where the demon was waiting. The crowd stopped when they saw it.

"You! . . . Why did you kill my family!" shouted Sana-gohma. "Is it just because that's what demons do!" she growled, a tiger-like sound, sharp teeth showing. A few saw them and stepped back from her.

"No," it hissed. "Demons have the right to life, too. People get rid of us because we're bothersome, like houseflies with teeth.

"The Demon God Naraku gave me a mission! To get rid of all the demon slayers in the country! That's why I set up the snake demon trap. Your two younger brothers are dead, too, by the way."

Sana-gohma's eyes widened. She growled and threw her Hiraikotsu with all her might, shredding the demon. That threat vanquished, the villagers turned on her, pelting her with arrows, but she ran deep into the forest, where the human villagers dared not follow.

She ran, weeping and bleeding. She finally collapsed onto the shore of a stream in the trees, and wrenched the arrows from her back and legs.

The last thing that passed through her mind was Kohaku's image, and that one name.

_Naraku . . . _ She passed out.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"There," said Kagome in a low voice, trying not to be heard by their target. "That guy has got a Jewel shard."

The man in question was walking down the path to the next village, while Inuyasha and Kagome hid in the trees watching him. His pocket glowed in Kagome's eye, and they moved in.

"I see you!" he sang, and they froze. His sharp black-green eyes looked their way. "What are you hiding for? I've got nothing valuable to steal."

They came out, sheepishly. "We're looking for Shikon Jewel shards," said Kagome. "If you don't think its valuable, do you think you could give it to us?"

The man blinked. "What's a Shikon Jewel shard?"

The man was quite short, about 5 9, and had very pale skin, and scars on his face.

He fished in his pocket, pulling out a little pouch, and took out the shard. "This?" he said. "What's it for? Something important? . . . I'll give it to you if you go on a date with me."

"Wha??" Kagome balked. A date?! Was this guy some kind of pervert?! She was only fifteen, and he looked to be in his twenties!

He grinned. "That's the deal!" he said.

Kagome relented. It couldn't be that bad. "Ok . . ." she said. "When does it start?"

"As soon as we get to the next village," he said, smiling.

So they walked, the man at Kagome's side, smiling, and Inuyasha walking on the other side of her. Kagome studied her new traveling companion.

He wore black and purple monk robes, and carried a staff with 4 rings jangling on the top end of it, on a larger ring encircling the head of the staff.

The rings were yellow, green, black, and a nameless color that looked like a combination of black, blue, and red. The word "orunitia" popped into her head, and she assumed that must be Kikyo's memories telling her the name of the color. The man had long, reddish orangish yellowish, very dark hair that came to the end of his back, and was in a ponytail on the nape of his neck. He had three scars on his face; one long one that ran from the left top of his forehead (underneath his hair) down through the separation of his eyebrows and nose and ended on his right cheek; the other two one right underneath the other on his left cheek just below the eye. He had a bunch of scars on his neck, but Kagome couldn't make those out very easily; they overlapped a lot and were messy-looking.

She wondered how he had survived blades to the neck, and wondered if he was part demon like Inuyasha. He certainly had the wild air about him, underneath his happy-go-lucky smile and expression. But she had Inuyasha to protect her, so she was safe.

"So . . ." she said, trying to start up a conversation, "are you a monk? You've got the clothes . . ."

"Yep!" he said smiling at her. "I travel from village to village giving my services! I do blessings, heal wounds (physical, spiritual, and mental) and fight off demons! What do you do?" He looked her up and down, taking in her unusual clothing and sensuous curves.

"Uhhh . . ." said Kagome, not sure what to tell him about herself. "I'm on a mission with Inuyasha to find all the shards of the Shikon Jewel, which I accidentally destroyed. I don't have a job yet, I'm only 15 . . ."

"Is that your friend over there?" he said, looking at Inuyasha.

"Yes," Inuyasha said apathetically.

"Heh heh. Boyfriend?" the man chuckled.

"NO!" they both shouted at the same time. The man blinked, and laughed his ass off.

Kagome was flushing slightly. "So . . . What's your name?"

"My name is Miroku. I can't tell you my last name." He grinned.

"My name's Kagome NoIkunan."

"Inuyasha."

He blinked. "NoIkunan? . . . . That name sounds familiar . . . Like I've heard it in ancient texts . . ." His handsome face furrowed in thought. " . . . I can't place it. I'll have to research it in the village."

Ancient texts? Why would her last name be in there? She felt slightly prideful that it might be, though. She wondered what Inuyasha's last name was, if he had one.

"Inuyasha? Do you have a last name?" she asked.

"Of course. I just don't want to tell you it." Kagome sighed. She hoped she could soften him up before long.

They walked and talked under the crystal-blue sky. Miroku talked about his life as a traveler, the people he met, and Kagome got the feeling he was hiding something. She reasoned that her family was safe on the other side of the well, if he **was** any threat, so she told him about her little brother, her mom, and her grandpa, and how her dad had run off when she was six and Shimbo was just a baby, and how her grandpa had sold his secret stash of poetry when the family had needed some extra income . . .

"I write poetry, too," she said, "but I'm not nearly as good as grandpa was. Actually, I have one I wrote on a scrap of paper when I was in Kaede's village. Do you want to hear it?"

"Sure! I'd love to!" smiled Miroku. At last, a willing audience::internal smile::

She dug it out of her backpack. She held the wrinkled paper in her hand as they walked and read

"Summer days, and winter lights

Motes, like dots of white

drift across my vision.

I stare down the long road ahead,

and I,

I long to live.

Live as the wild things do,

In the forest of freedom!

What comes

I yearn to know."

Kagome stopped. Miroku, and especially Inuyasha, stared at her. She was still looking at her poem. She sighed.

"Grandpa was a MASTER poet. He could make the heavens sing and the mountains turn at his words! I feel so inadequate when I heard his poetry." She noticed the two boys staring at her. ::sweatdrops:: "Good, or bad?" she asked.

"Very good!" said Miroku. He was impressed.

" . . . . . . ." said Inuyasha. " . . . How were you feeling when you wrote that?" he asked.

Kagome thought. " . . . I don't remember. . . . Angry, I think. I don't remember."

They walked in silence.

Soon they reached the village. It was a bustling, busy town, with lots of people and merchants. Miroku, Kagome, and Inuyasha checked into the hotel before going out to explore the town.

"Kagome and I have a date," he said to Inuyasha, "so go explore the town and we'll catch up with you at the hotel at dusk." Inuyasha gave a soft hmph and went off.

They walked through the busy streets. "Is he always so haughty?" asked Miroku to Kagome.

"Yes," she said, putting a piece of hair behind her ear. "You just get used to it."

"So!" said Miroku, clapping his hands together in excitement. "It's a busy town! What do you want to do first? Get something to eat? I have a little money to spend on you." He winked.

::sweatdrop:: "Sure . . ." she said. Some yakisoba sounded good right about now. They went to a noodle stand.

Finding a bench, they sat down and had their lunch. "Tell me some more about yourself, Miroku," she said, slurping up the fried noodles.

"I already told you all I can tell you," he said, green-black eye glinting, a devilish smirk on his handsome face. "I have secrets to keep, even from pretty girls like you. Why not tell me about YOURself?"

"Ok . . ." said Kagome. "My father was a gunsmith. He was a MASTER. He even invented a few new types of guns. . . . What's that noise?"

A siren was sounding. All the people were rushing around, closing up shops, and retreating into homes. Kagome and Miroku instantly became alarmed. "I think it's a demon attack alarm," said Miroku. "Lots of towns have them nowadays. Let's go get some of the action!" he said excitedly, grabbing her arm and dragging her toward town square, where some screeching sounds were coming from.

"W-wait! What about Inuyasha?" Miroku pointed up toward a red and silver figure leaping on the rooftops. Kagome smiled.

In the town square, the police, bows and flaming arrows ready, had cornered a giant white cobra. The trio arrived on the scene, and asked if they could help in any way.

"You sure can!" said the chief of police. "If you got any weapons that can nail this sucker, we'll be glad to reward ya. FIRE!" he yelled to the policemen, and the flaming arrows flew, sticking deep into the reptile's scaly skin. It screeched and reared, hood flaring, spraying the policemen with toxic gas. A few couldn't get their masks on fast enough and fell, dragged away by some of the others.

"Shit!" spat the chief. Inuyasha ran forward and raked the cobra with his claws, spewing black blood all over him. Kagome fired a holy arrow into where she thought the heart might be located. It screamed, diving at her. Inuyasha whisked her out of the way.

"Stand back!" said Miroku. He knew using holy spells on a creature with black blood would be useless, and Inuyasha's claws weren't going to put much of a dent in it.

The monk gathered his power over his staff, black lightning bolts writhing around his body. He closed his eyes, concentrating. The head of his staff glowed, rings lifting. Suddenly they melted, extending out from the staff into the shape of a blade.

A scythe.

Miroku grew, his 5' 9" frame stretching and growing to an incredible height of 7 foot 5; his skin's pallor now had a deathly quality to it, and his hair became black as a shadow.

He opened his eyes. They were blood red. He grinned.

"Kiibal gohna doran jjiosai, da?! (Let us do battle, one creature of darkness to another, eh?!)" he shouted at the snake. It hissed menacingly, accepting his challenge. Miroku rushed at the creature with his scythe, now coal-black robes billowing. The snake dove, and missed.

Twisting in the air, Miroku hit the cobra in the eye with the giant blade, and grinned like a demon when it screamed. He left the blade in it to distract it, while he ran over to the end of its tail.

"Say goodbye, demon!!" He smiled, ripping a ring on his middle finger off; it was connected to a cloth that covered his hand, and he revealed a yawning blue and black Hole in his palm. Free of the nullifying cloth and ring, the Hole began to suck in everything in its path; Miroku pointed it at the snake's tail.

The vacuum caught it, and began pulling it in, slowly at first, then faster and faster; it screamed as it was sucked into the yawning void, Miroku's scythe coming loose as its head was pulled in. Miroku caught the flying blade in his hand.

"Done and done," he said. Kagome cheered. The policemen gawked, terrified.

"He . . . He's a Reaper!!" shouted one, and ran screaming away, stumbling on his feet. A few other of them ran screaming, too, and the rest were too paralyzed with fear to move.

"What's a Reaper?" asked Kagome.

"I'll explain in a second," said the transformed Miroku. "Now . . . you said there was a reward for getting rid of the cobra demon?" he said to the chief of police.

"I'll double it," he said, "I'll double it if you don't take anyone in my family!! Please!! I beg of you!!" He was on his knees pleading, tears streaming down his face. Miroku grinned.

"You make a compelling argument," he said. "It's a deal!"

"Thank you!!" the man bowed. Inuyasha wondered if he had tricked the man, pretending he was going to take one of his family. He decided to ask later.

………………

Sana-gohma made her way back to her house. Tikarr and Jiono were dead as promised. She buried their cold, stiff bodies in the ground, and set up graves for them and the rest of her family.

She said her prayers for their souls and gathered supplies for her journey. She guessed she was going to get her dream of being a traveler. She just had never imagined it would be like _this_.

Her family dead.

Her purpose destroyed.

She took the money out of the safe and shifted her pack and Hiraikotsu on her back.

She started off down the dirt road.

………………

"What's a Reaper?" asked Kagome when they were beyond city limits. They had decided to let him travel with them, being a good fighter and them needing all the help they could get. Miroku smiled.

"A Reaper. Like the Grim Reaper. An agent of death," he said.

"Oh! Awesome!" grinned Kagome. "So, you're not really a monk?"

"I'm still a monk," he said. "A monk for the Church of Death! I travel from town to town reaping souls for my master, the Death Force! And this Hole in my palm," he said, brandishing his left hand, the silver ring and cloth in place again, "is how I do it! As a reward for reaping them I gain all the power and spell knowledge from their earthly bodies!"

He looked very proud. "This HellHole was a present from the Death Goddess herself! It's my pride and joy! I can't wait to pass it on to my children! . . ." He looked at Kagome.

"Say, you look old enough to bear children! Will you have mine?" he asked.

Kagome balked. "WHAAA?!?! Are you jackin' me?!?" She stared at him as though he were insane.

"Pleeeaase?" he asked, putting on the puppy-dog charm. He took her hands. "You don't even have to raise them yourself! I'll take care of them completely! I do want a big family, though," he said.

"Inuyasha . . . help!" said Kagome, looking desperate for escape. Inuyasha grabbed his ear and pulled him away.

"Leave the lady alone," he huffed. Kagome wondered about Reaper values that would make him ask such a question. She also thought that maybe it was just him.

Miroku consented, and dropped it. The three walked on back toward Kanta Village, and the sun shone brightly in the crystal-blue sky.


End file.
